Customer Reviews

This Astounding Close: The Road to Bennett Place

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Mark Bradley's second book is a worthy companion to his excellent book on Bentonville. This book takes a different approach, presenting the movements and subsequent surrender negotiations instead of the chaos of a pitched battle, but it works nontheless, infusing a different sort of drama and emotion. I found the descriptions of Sherman's army extremely interesting, and the fate of the Army of Tennessee was both moving and compelling. The book places the surrender of Johnston's army in its historical context, explaining the strong position that Johnston was negotiating from, and the possibility of uniting with Lee's army for another offensive, an event which worried Sherman greatly. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read Bradley's Bentonville work, as this provides the rest of the story. The only negative comment is that I miss the incredible maps by Mark Moore, which are not present in this work. Otherwise, Mark Bradley continues his tradition of a very readable first hand account.

Mark Bradley has written an excellent companion book to his "Last Stand in the Carolinas," which has currently gone out of print. In this volume, Mr. Bradley picks up where he left off, following Johnston and Sherman from Bentonville to the surrender of the Army of Tennessee at Durham, North Carolina. Bradley's writing is, as in his other book, great!

But missing from "This Astounding Close," are the excellent maps created the very skilled cartographer Mark Moore. The maps provided are not bad--they are actually quite good--but they could have been better. The small numbers of maps left me wanting more, especially ones detailing the smaller skirmishes taking place during the maneuvering in North Carolina. If the maps had been better and mpre plentiful, I would have given the book five starts instead of four.

Being from the South, I have always considered Sherman and his subordinates nothing short of the devil-incarnate. But from this book, I gained a new respect for these men and saw the softer side of them. Bradley depicts how John "Black Jack" Logan saved Raleigh from destruction at the hands of raged Federal troops intent on avenging Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Mr. Bradley also told of how lenient Sherman was toward the surrendering Confederate troops and toward the civilians of North Carolina, especially after the surrender. Sherman even offered Johnston and his troops much kinder terms than those given to Robert E. Lee at Appomattox! But Northern politicians saw these terms as too soft and evetually gave Johnston the same terms given to Lee.

This is a very good book; no doubt a great addition to my rapidly growing Civil War library. Before reading this volume, I knew next to nothing about Johnston's surrender at Durham, North Carolina, in the Bennet Farmhouse. If you are a Civil War buff get this book; if you are a military history buff, get this book! I got it, and am happy I did.

The Civil War didn't officially end with General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. General Joe Johnston's Army of the South and General Kirby Smith's forces in the Trans-Mississippi still remained in the field.
This is the story of the situation in North Carolina facing Johnston and Union General William Sherman after the Battle of Bentonville. The author presents both sides of the story along with the political pressures from Richmond and Washington.
There is not an abundance of information about Johnston's eventual surrender of the Army of the South and other forces under his command. The author is a leading authority about the 1865 North Carolina Campaign and presents an entertaining, interesting and scholarly review of the events after Bentonville.

Mark Bradley has written a most excellent account of the last days of the Civil War in North Carolina between Joseph Johnston and William Sherman. Being a North Carolina native and having visited and traveled through many of the places in the book, I was particularly interested.

The book is not so much a detailed account of the last battles in North Carolina (Bentonville, Averasboro, Wyse Fork, Fort Fisher, etc.) as it is the military and political maneuvering between the two generals - Johnston in attempting to gain favorable surrender terms for his army and Sherman attempting to be lenient with the South at the end of the war. Indeed, aside from the aforementioned battles, most encounters between North and South during the last days in North Carolina were no more than brief skirmishes.

I particulary enjoyed reading the accounts of the Union occupation of Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and Goldsboro. Having lived in Goldsboro and Raleigh earlier in my life, I enjoyed reading the accounts. Also interesting were the accounts of the Rebel occupation of Greensboro and Charlotte.

Throughout the book, Bradley manages to incorporate several interesting anecdotes: the unfortunate luck of Rebel Lietenant Walsh from Texas, the marriage of Northern General Atkins' courtship and marriage to a Chapel Hill lady, etc.

Bradley's writing style is interesting and maintains a fine balance between being a free-flowing read, just like his excellent Battle of Bentonville title.

Read and enjoy! Highly recommended.

This book is a well-written history of the final campaign in the Carolinas at the close of the war, particularly the final actions in NC along with the very complicated and unusual circumstances of the surrender of the Army of Tennessee that virtually closes out the war. Bradley, following up on his 'Battle of Bentonville: Last Stand in the Carolinas' spends more detail on the personal, social and political aspects of the campaign. Of interest in particular, is how Joe Johnston was able to assemble several fragments forces under a fascinating collection of generals such as Hardee, DH Hill, Cheatham, McLaws, Alexander, Hampton and even Bragg. The book whirls through Sherman's active campaign through South Carolina that moves so rapidly through natural barriers like swamps that Hardee is totally stunned exclaiming 'I made up my mind that there had been no greater army in existence since the days of Julius Caesar'. The author also whirls through the downfall of Wilmington and provides a short but effective over view of the Battle of Averasboro, an effective holding action (and a very well preserved battlefield by the local battlefield association), and in follow up Bentonville. In Bentonville, the author provides an interesting discussion on why Sherman did not make a serious attempt to destroy Johnston's army. Only a heroic counter attack by Hardee stifles General Mower's late crushing of the Confederate left flank yet Sherman terminates any further aggressive action. It has been noted by historians that Sherman was a brilliant strategist but not so a tactician. It seems that he expressed supreme confidence in his army and corps commanders and that he felt his army was never in significant danger. More importantly, he seemed to recognize that the Confederates were close to collapse and the end of the war necessitating the limiting further loss of life. That premise sets up the controversial negotiations between Johnston and Sherman and to a political degree, NC governor Vance who final sees the end of the war coming and his desire to save the capitol and State from further destruction. Introduced into this complicated state of affairs is Davis and his cabinet traveling southwest through NC with Davis' myopic view of the state of the war. Bradley provides an ironic and fascinating account of how Johnston, his least favorite General, and Secretary of War Breckenridge have to bring the reality of the state of the Confederacy to Davis' attention. The intricacies of the surrender are also told quite well as Sherman, with good intentions, over steps his bounds and presents terms of surrender very similar to what Confederate Postmaster Reagan offered. The fall out from Secretary Stanton, virtually through a newspaper release and the requirements for Sherman to renegotiate with Grant having to act as a supervisor becomes a cause for recrimination that Sherman never forgives and whose prolonged fiery response is well documented by Bradley. The fragmenting of the Confederate Army, the effort of the Union command to control their idle forces particularly after Lincoln's assassination is most interesting. Of note is General Logan's stopping forces from burning Raleigh. In addition, Johnston's cavalry posed problematic with fiery and unrelenting Hampton who refused to surrender and Joe Wheeler, who leaves with his force. Of interest in contrast are the actions of Union cavalry leader Kilpatrick who although aggressive had a knack of getting himself intertwined with female company at awkward moments (Monroe's Crossings) and at inappropriate times. The author gives Johnston great credit for marshaling his forces, evading Sherman and for conducting the surrender for the best terms that the Confederacy could expect. In this final eastern campaign, Johnston, criticized for evading battle and retreating, does seem to deserve the authors praise. Of note towards the end of the book is when a Union Officer who discovers Confederate records shortly after the surrender is visited by what a soldier describes as a 'little old man' in civilian clothes. The 'little old man" is Joe Johnston, checking to insure that the officer will take appropriate care of the records that have been a great source in history. The author includes a number of interesting appendices that include Postmaster General Reagan's proposed terms, Sherman's original terms, the final terms written by Schofield, Lee & Grants terms, parole format and the organization of the armies.

As a companion to Bradley's earlier work on the Bentonville battle, 'Last Stand in the Carolinas', 'This Astounding Close' creates an extremely satisfying conclusion. But, as a stand alone work, 'This Astounding Close' is a tremendous asset in its own right.

Most of us grew up believing that the Civil War ended the moment Robert E. Lee surrendered to U.S. Grant at Appomatox Court House in Virginia. One can only assume that his came about as a part of the deification of Lee and the promotion of the 'Lost Cause' doctrine that was so popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Historically, most things regarding the Confederacy have always begun and ended with Lee. Thanks to the scholarship and hard work of Mark Bradley, we now have a much more accurate picture of how the war ended and the major roles played by Joseph Johnston and W. T. Sherman well after Lee's surrender.

If you want a comprehensive blow-by-blow description of the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville, read 'Last Stand in the Carolinas'. For a valuable capsule summary of the battles, combined with a complete historical account of the negotiations leading up to the surrender, 'This Astounding Close' fills the bill wonderfully!

Without doubt Bradley's book does justice to each side all the way from the Generals to local people in
Chapel Hill to Raleigh. It fails to note Bennett Place was in Orange County at the time. Durham county did not exsist
until 1868 when it was carved out of Orange Co. I had a 3 Great-grandfather, CSA Col, who was killed at Bentonville, NC
James Henry Neal.
His daughter lived until 1935 when she died in Atlanta Ga. She as a child of 6 living in Atlanta Ga.during the
"March To The Sea" Gen. Sherman set-up his HQ in her mother's kitchen, my gg-aunt Louise Neal, served Sherman biskets.
I have many hand-written letters by John White and his daughters Laura and Delia who discussed Chapel Hill
immediately after the war in 1865.John White eventually became U.S. Postmater in Chapel Hill for three years and later left that job to be Orange County Sheriff twice.
Bradley's book is a wealth of knowledge of events ocurring on the local scene.
Sherman conducted several military trials in Raleigh of civilians and soldiers alike. I have original documents and judgements of the
officer's tribunal. Each were charged with various offenses from plundering to murder.AT least 2 soldiers and 1 civilian were
sentenced to death,only to have Grant void the verdicts with Pres.Andrew Johnson's permission.